SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) Defending champion Levi Leipheimer of Team Astana took the overall lead as he attacked the group and finished second on the stage. Lance Armstrong took a spill when he got tangled with a motorcycle, and still moved up a spot in the overall standings Monday at the Tour of California after a rainy and crash-filled second stage.

Two-time defending champion Leipheimer of Santa Rosa, Calif., became the third different race leader. He emerged from a chasing group on the final climb with about 17 miles left before finishing a close second to stage winner Thomas Peterson of North Bend, Wa.

Peterson was victorious in the 115.9-mile Sausalito to Santa Cruz road race in 5 hours, 6 minutes and 20 seconds.

Strong wind and heavy rain hampered the field throughout most of the stage, which crossed the Golden Gate Bridge shortly after the start.

Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner making a comeback after a 3½-year retirement, had his mishap about 80 miles into the stage.

“A motorcycle for the photographer from the race crashed right in front of me,” Armstrong said. “Unfortunate, but it could have been worse. I don’t feel too bad, hip is a little banged up but overall a great day. Levi proved he is the best guy in the race hands down.”

Armstrong quickly received a spare bike from a team car and returned to the field with the assistance of teammate Jose Luis Rubiera of Spain.

Armstrong, who began the day in fifth place, is now fourth, 30 seconds behind. He finished 13th in the stage.

Floyd Landis, the former 2006 Tour de France champ competing for the first time following a two-year doping suspension, is 29th overall, 6:04 behind.

In addition to Armstrong’s crash, a group of 15 riders also crashed during the stage.

Andy Jacques-Maynes of Capitola, Calif., was also fell into a parked car and left the race in an ambulance. He suffered head and ankle injuries not considered serious, said Ben Jacques-Maynes, his brother and teammate. (Andy Jacque-Maynes is shown here right after the crash looking for his team car. I’ve seen many crashes and it’s amazing how the pros often jump up after a crash and get back on the bike no matter what injuries.)

Leipheimer, who began the day trailing former race leader Francisco Mancebo of Spain by 1 minute and 2 seconds, now leads the race’s fourth edition by 24 seconds over Michael Rogers of Australia.

David Zabriskie of Salt Lake City is third overall, trailing Leipheimer by 28 seconds.

“The weather has been nasty the last couple of days and it really changes the race,” Leipheimer said. “I thought I better go because I didn’t want to freeze up. I felt great, and I told (Yaroslav) Popovych ‘I feel great, let’s go. I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to go.”

Peterson, who missed his starting time Saturday in the prologue and finished last, rode behind Leipheimer in the final miles after being part of an earlier lead group. (eds note – I’m still not sure why Peterson is still in the race. UCI races have time limits on stages. His 2 minutes in the prologue could have disqualifed him)

“I just stayed on his (Leipheimer’s) wheel,” Peterson said. “It was pretty easy.”

Leipheimer, who earned his fifth Tour of California career stage win, rode among teammates, including Armstrong, throughout much of the stage.

Leipheimer launched off the front of a group chasing Carlos Barredo of Spain, who pedaled in a solo lead until he began to lag on the final climb.

Mancebo, who rode to a long solo victory in the opening stage, was never a factor.

“Even though I had a rough rider today, I can still compete for the (leader’s) jersey as well as the other jerseys,” said Mancebo, who finished 27th in the stage and dropped to 16th place, trailing by 56 seconds.

The nine-day event continues Tuesday with the 104.2-mile San Jose to Modesto stage 3 and concludes Sunday in Escondido, Calif.

AP PHOTOS

MADRID (AP) — Lance Armstrong isn’t quite at his competitive best but he’s not far off, according to Astana teammate and former Tour de France champion Alberto Contador.

It is the second race for Armstrong following last month’s Tour Down Under. The 37-year-old cyclist, who came out of retirement three years after clinching his seventh straight Tour title, finished 71st in Australia.

“Lance looks very strong and very motivated, but I still think he’s not quite ready to compete,” Contador said on Monday.

Contador is putting his money on another American rider in California — Astana teammate Levi Lepheimer, who just took the overall lead in the Tour of California this afternoon.

Contador begins his season at next week’s Tour of the Algarve in Portugal and says he’s still not at his best after offseason nasal surgery. The 26-year-old Spaniard is roughly 5 pounds over his ideal weight and has had to change his arm positioning on the bike to assist his breathing. (AP File Photos)

But Contador is confident he’ll be ready in time for the Paris-Nice race, his first serious objective of the season.

“I’m a little surprised at how well my body is responding,” Contador said. “I think we’ve met our objectives so far because, for the time of year and how much I’ve trained until now, the shape I’ve managed to be in is very good.

“I sincerely think I’m going to do even better this year.”

Contador, who was unable to defend his Tour title after Astana was banned because of doping controversies, became the fifth cyclist to win all the sport’s three premier events with his Giro d’Italia and Spanish Vuelta victories last year.

The race is on in California and for the first time in history a bike race was allowed to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Here’s an AP photo just taken.

The race has a dangours breakaway with 3:30 minutes.

Below is AP report on Sunday’s Tour of California, a terrific race in the rain. The stars got jumped by controversial team Rock Racing’s Francisco Mancebo, who was tied to the blood doping scandal,  Operación Puerto in 2006.  I’m leaving this AP story as sent, but will edit them more in the future. One of my pet peeves is a cycling or sports story written through the eyes of one athlete instead of the event itself. Golf writters do this with Tiger and cycling is Lance. Here’s an example.

By GREG BEACHAM,  AP Sports Writer,  SANTA ROSA, California (AP) Lance Armstrong finished among the leaders in the Tour of California’s opening stage on an exasperating Sunday that included drenching rain, a flat tire and even the theft of his time-trial bike.

Armstrong persevered through his profoundly gloomy day to finish fifth in the stage, although he was awarded a finish time identical to that of 17 other riders in a large peloton directly behind surprise winner Francisco Mancebo of Spain.

Armstrong led a chase group that never quite caught up to the soaked race leaders on the final miles of a grueling 107-mile (172-kilometer) grind.

But the day began inauspiciously and got worse before a solid finish by Armstrong, who might have been rethinking his comeback during five frigid hours in the rain — if he hadn’t already endured much tougher struggles with cancer and doping allegations during a historic racing career that includes seven Tour de France titles.

“Holy hell. That was terrible,” Armstrong wrote on his online Twitter feed about 15 minutes after finishing. “Maybe one of the toughest days I’ve had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I’m still freezing.”

Cycling doesn’t get much more exasperating than it did Sunday for Team Astana, which lost four bikes to thieves Saturday night, some time after Armstrong finished 10th in the prologue. His time-trial bike was stolen from the Astana truck in Sacramento along with the race bikes of teammates Steve Morabito, Yaroslav Popovych and Janez Brajkovic.

Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens confirmed the bike thefts to The Associated Press after it was reported by Armstrong himself on Twitter. Armstrong later posted a picture of his missing bike, which has distinctive yellow-and-black wheels and the logo of his Livestrong foundation.

“There is only one like it in the world therefore hard to pawn it off. Reward being offered,” Armstrong wrote.

The rain fell in steady sheets from the opening miles of Stage 1 in Davis, a famously bike-friendly college town southwest of Sacramento. Most riders needed about five difficult hours to cross the rolling hills of the Napa Valley before ending up in Sonoma County, but Armstrong stayed in contention despite a flat tire along the way.

Race officials didn’t release the stage’s results until three hours after the leaders crossed the finish line, apparently debating how to handle the rulings made necessary by the rain. Armstrong and Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, whose hometown is Santa Rosa, were among the 18 riders all given identical finish times 67 seconds behind Mancebo. Their individual finishes — Armstrong in fifth and Leipheimer in 15th — will count in the overall points standings.

The intricacies of the officials’ decision didn’t matter to Mancebo, an 11-year pro who joined Rock Racing this year. He took an early lead and stayed in front of the chase group until the downtown finish, when Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas caught him with just one lap to go on the three-lap circuit.

Mancebo somehow reclaimed the lead and barely held off Nibali and Quickstep’s Jurgen Van de Walle in a surprisingly entertaining finish under such awful weather conditions.

The Tour of California is Armstrong’s first competitive appearance in his native country since beginning his comeback last month.

Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss Olympic champion who edged Leipheimer to win the prologue, dropped out of the race midway through the opening stage with a fever. Leipheimer, Armstrong’s teammate and the two-time defending Tour champion, also felt ill, but the Santa Rosa native stayed in the race.

Armstrong won’t need his time-trial bike again until Friday in Solvang, where the race holds its second time trial. That segment is crucial to Astana’s hopes of winning the overall team title, however.

Here’s the report just posted on CyclingNews.com

Trek team liaison Ben Coates has reported that Lance Armstrong’s time trial bike has been stolen along with three other Astana team road bikes sometime after the opening prologue of the Tour of California. The time trial bike in particular is one-of-a-kind and should be easily recognized. A reward is being offered for its return.

Armstrong used the bike to finish tenth in the prologue.

Astana has high hopes to win the overall once again. The crucial stage that can decide the race is the time trial in Solvang on February 20. The riders will tackle a 24-kilometre course.

By John Schumacher McClatchy Newspapers  (MCT)  SACRAMENTO, Calif.  Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara won the Amgen Tour of California prologue Saturday, unofficially covering the 2.4-mile course through the streets of downtown and midtown Sacramento in 4 minutes, 32.90 seconds.

The Team Saxo Bank rider will wear the yellow jersey for Sunday’s first stage, 107.6-mile test from Davis to Santa Rosa.

Defending Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer finished second with a 4:34.11 effort, followed by American David Zabriskie in 4:35.51.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong finished in 4:37.17.

“I’m for sure happy,” said Cancellara, who won the Tour of California prologue last year. “It’s the first race (of the year). You never know how good you really area.”

Leipheimer sounded assured about his chances to win the Tour for the third time after finishing the prologue so close to the lead.

“After today, I feel very confident,” said Leipheimer from Santa Rosa. “To be so close to Fabian, I think, is a good sign.”

Today’s stage could include bad weather, and periods of rain are forecast.

“We’ve all been professionals for a long time,” Leipheimer said. “We certainly had very bad (weather) days on the bike. We know what it’s like.

“In your head you have to be ready for the worst.”

Riders streaked over the Capitol Mall course as large crowds cheered and more than a few clanged cowbells, happy to have the event under way without rainfall.

The first rider of the first day of the nine-day race headed down the start ramp at 1:30 p.m. The weather was iffy all morning, some blue skies, then plenty of clouds.

But right at the start of the race the skies were as blue as they were all day, which means safe cycling, the riders not having to deal with wet pavement at the corners.

Many cycling fans smiled when asked about the weather as they lined the streets of Sacramento in jackets.

Most came prepared for showers and said they didn’t mind braving the chill as long as the dark clouds held a little longer.

Dave Talpas said he planned to stick it out until he got a glimpse of Lance Armstrong.

“The weather put a damper on things, but it hasn’t detoured people.”

As Armstrong raced down Sacramento’s L Street, Stephen Fullenwider of Citrus Heights, Calif., held up his camera phone with glee.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” he said. And shortly after as a light sprinkle began, the race came to a close.

COPENHAGEN (AP) Taylor Phinney of the United States and Eleonora van Dijk of the Netherlands won the pursuit races at cycling’s Track World Cup finals on Friday.

Phinney, the son of 1984 Olympic medalists Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Davis Phinney, took the men’s race ahead of David O’Loughlin of Ireland.

The 18-year-old Phinney finished with 22 points and second in the final overall standings, won by Volodymyr Dyudya of Ukraine with the same number of points. It was Phinney’s first World Cup win of the season.

Phinney, who’s been working out with Lance Armstrong, shattered the U.S. national record in the men’s 4,000-meter pursuit, clocking 4 minutes, 15.223 seconds in the qualifying round to surpass the previous mark of 4:19.800 set by Mariano Friedick in 1996.

Van Dijk won the first gold medal of the finals, beating Canada’s Tara Whitten in the women’s pursuit final.

In other races, Kam-Po Wong of Hong Kong won the men’s points race; Victoria Pendleton took the women’s sprint and British teammate Elizabeth Armistead won the scratch event.

Eight Olympic gold medalists are competing in the meet that was first held in Chicago in 1893. It ends on Sunday.

By GREG BEACHAM / AP Sports Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. Lance Armstrong believes cycling is ready to emerge from the shadow of doping, even while it encircles some of baseball’s biggest stars.

Armstrong spoke at the end of a lengthy news conference Thursday night to promote the Tour of California, his first event on his native soil since the seven-time Tour de France winner began his comeback.

Asked his opinion on the latest round of steroid revelations in baseball surrounding Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada, Armstrong ‚ the subject of years of doping suspicion ‚ professed hope that cycling’s tougher regulation and his personal testing regimen have reduced fans’ disbelief in the sport’s top athletes.

“It seems like cycling is on its way out of that, that dark spot,” Armstrong said. “And maybe baseball is entering, I don’t know.”

“It’s tough to compare (baseball and cycling),” Armstrong added. “The level of testing is not anywhere near what you see in cycling. At the end of the night, we get to sleep well knowing we’ve been tested more than anyone else, and we’re more vigilant than anyone else.”

But Armstrong also defended his recent decision to scrap his self-imposed testing program with Don Catlin before it even began. When Armstrong announced his comeback five months ago, he said Catlin ‚a prominent anti-drug scientist ‚would supervise his personal, extra-stringent testing program.

Armstrong blamed exorbitant costs and scheduling problems for his split with Catlan, still praising the doctor as “one of the best there is.”

“It was a difficult program to put together,” Armstrong said. “It was complex. If you match his schedule with mine, with traveling all over the world, the testers literally would have been tripping over each other to get to the room. That’s not to say we won’t have the most comprehensive anti-doping program in the world.”

Armstrong still plans to post online results of his personal drug tests, but said the previous plan would have required him to be tested every three days.

“I think everybody in doping agrees that’s not really necessary,” Armstrong said. “Sounds good, but not necessary when you’re talking about the biological passport and other things. We’ll certainly be able to prove that the performances that people see, whether they’re slow or fast, will have to be believed.”

After a 3-year absence from the sport he dominated for most of the decade, Armstrong began his comeback last month at the Tour Down Under in Australia. He said he was pleased after finishing 29th, 49 seconds behind winner Allan Davis on aggregate time.

The 37-year-old Armstrong said his main goal in the Tour of California is to set the stage for another victory for Levi Leipheimer, his Astana teammate and the event’s two-time defending champion.

Armstrong also is racing in California against George Hincapie, his close friend and eager assistant in each of Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories. Hincapie now races for Team Columbia-High Road.

Although he’s beginning his comeback with mostly friendly fans in Australia and California, he knows the climate could change once he moves to Europe for the Giro D’Italia and the Tour de France, where he has a decidedly tumultuous relationship with the cycling public and press.

“I think there are pockets of detractors, but I think by and large the support reading is high,” Armstrong said. “I’m not too worried about it. We’d all like to ride down the road and be loved by everybody, but that’s just not the case.”

Floyd Landis also plans to ride in the race despite crashing his bike during a training run Thursday.

The former Tour de France champion is headed into his first race back from a two-year doping ban. Landis’ crash was announced by Tour of California officials moments before he was due to appear at a news conference promoting the race, which begins with a prologue Saturday in downtown Sacramento.

Landis, who won the inaugural Tour of California in 2006, won the Tour de France later that year, but was stripped of cycling’s most prestigious title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone. He spent much of the past two years and personal savings attempting to clear his name in various courts.

He still contends the sport’s testing system is flawed, but his ban expired Jan. 30, and the 33-year-old moved quickly to get back into competition.

Leipheimer, the only other person to win the race, didn’t know about Landis’ crash until hearing about it in a news conference.

“He’s a tough guy,” Leipheimer said. “It won’t affect him.”

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. AP Photos

Versus TV is doing daily coverage of the Tour of California, but that’s so 2008, and it doesn’t really help anyone stuck at work while the world’s heavyweights-of-cycling take to the road.

Instead, try these great sites.

Amgen Tour Tracker Site – This site is an interactive streaming-video site for the Tour. Follow the peloton, chat with fans, check out the course profiles and more.

Road Bike Review Daily coverage from the ToC, including behind-the-scenes videos.
Bicycling’s ToC coverage. (Disclosure: I do some online contributions for them.) Daily updates, videos, articles, more goodness.